WEBVTT
CIPRIANI SHE'S INNOCENT.
REPORTER: ACCORDING TO THIS
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT, ALMOST
IMMEDIATELY AFTER A RELEASE FROM
PRISON, MARTHA BELL WAS AT IT
AGAIN.
THESE COURT DOCUMENTS SAY S
CONNED MORE THAN 300,000 OUT OF
AN ELDERLY MAN AND POLICE HAVE
NOW ISSUED AN ARREST WARRANT.
BUT I FOUND MARTHA BELL AT HOME
AND SHE TELLS ME SHE HASN'T DONE
ANYTHING WRONG.
>> I'VE BEEN INNOCENT OF ALL
CHARGES INCLUDING THE CHARGES
THAT I WAS INCARCERATED FOR.
I'VE BEEN A POLITICAL PRISONER.
REPORTER: AT 70, BELL HAS BEEN
IN PRISON FOR THREE YEARS, BUT
POLICE SAY IT TOOK HER NO TIME
TO COMMIT HER NEXT CRIME.
AND THEY SAY IT'S CONNECTED TO
THE CASE THAT PUT HER AWAY.
NEARLY 10 YEARS AGO, BELL WAS
CONVICTED FOR HER ROLE IN THE
DEATH OF 88-YEAR-OLD MABLE
TAYLOR.
TAYLOR WAS A PATIENT AT THE
ATRIUM NURSING HOME IN ROBINSON,
WHEN SHE WANDERED OUTSIDE ON A
COLD NIGHT AND DIED.
POLICE SAY BELL AND OTHERS TRIED
TO COVER IT UP, PUTTING TAYLOR
IN BED CLAIMING SHE DIED THERE.
BELL WENT TO PRISON AND WAS
RELEASED IN 2013, BUT WAS ON
PROBATION WHEN POLICE SAY SHE
COMMITTED HER LATEST CRIME,
WHERE INVESTIGATORS SAY THE
VICTIM AGAIN IS ELDERLY.
>> THEY'RE SAYING THAT YOU
CONTACTED THIS GUY AND GOT 300
SOME THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM HIM.
>> I JUST KNOW THAT I'VE BEEN
VERY SICK.
REPORTER: BELL TOLD ME SHE HAD
NO IDEA POLICE FILED CHARGES
UNTIL I CAME TO HER DOOR.
BUT COURT PAPERS SHOW THAT
ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER BELL'S
RELEASE FROM PRISON SHE
CONVINCED AN 89-YEAR-OLD MAN TO
WRITE HER 33 CHECKS TOTALING
MORE THAN $320,000.
THE COMPLAINT SAYS THAT BELL
CLAIMED SHE HAD BED LICENSES TO
SELL FROM THE ATRIUM AND IF THE
ELDERLY MAN GAVE HER THE LOAN,
SHE WOULD SHARE HALF OF THE
THREE MILLION SHE'D MAKE.
INSTEAD, POLICE SAY SHE SPENT
THE MONEY AT CASINOS.
BELL DENIES IT ALL.
MARTHA BELL IS NOW CHARGED WITH
THEFT BY SEE SEPTION AND

At 70 years old, Martha Bell has been out of prison for three years, but police say it took her no time to commit her next crime, and they say it's connected to the case that put her away.

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Nearly 10 years ago, Bell was convicted for her role in the death of 88-year-old Mabel Taylor. Taylor was a patient at the Atrium Nursing and Rehabilitation Center,in Robinson, when she wandered outside into a courtyard on a cold night and died. Police said Bell and others tried to cover it up, putting Taylor in bed and claiming she died there.

Bell went to prison and was released in 2013, but was on probation when police say she committed her latest crime. And according to court papers, the victim again is elderly.

"I have been innocent of all charges, including the charges that I was incarcerated for," Bell said, from her West Mifflin home. "I've been apolitical prisoner."

Bell said she had no idea police filed the recent charges, until Pittsburgh's Action News 4 came to her door.

According to court papers, investigators have been to her home to ask about claims that she conned an 89-year-old man out out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Police said that almost immediately after Bell's release from prison in the previous case, she convinced the elderly man to write her 33 checks, totaling $322,300. The complaint reads that Bell claimed she had bed licenses to sell,from her time at the Atrium, and if the elderly man gave her a loan, she would share half of the $3 million she'd make on the sale. Instead, court papers say she spent that money at casinos. Bell denies it all.

Bell faces four felonies, including theft by unlawful taking and deceptive or fraudulent business practices. She has not yet been taken into custody.